Harvard Business Review

Creative Director: James de Vries

Art Director: Karen Player

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

Heidi: It looks like he is on a ledge, was he reluctant to hop up on top of it?
Andrew: He was not even remotely reluctant. He’s pretty athletic and I think he had been photographed so many times that he enjoyed the prospect of doing something a little different.

How much time did you have with him?
He was very accommodating and gave us 3 or 4 hours but I didn’t need all of that time. I think he realizes that if you give yourself to the process instead of fighting it, things just come out better for everyone involved, and it takes less time.

Did he have a variety of expressions? He looks rather serious
HBR chose this particular frame, but he was really lively and friendly. IT was actually difficult to get a frame where he didn’t look friendly and affable.

Typically business men are hard to shoot, what was the most interesting aspect about the subject? Did the conversation flow?
I’ve been shooting portraits for magazines since 1998, a good number of them, portraits of business men and I can safely say I’ve never had a more conversational and really fascinating subject. I had to keep putting the camera down to talk because the conversation was more interesting than the pictures. He has written a number of books and is kind of like the Malcom Gladwell of business and efficiency, not typically very interesting subjects, but he is interested in everything and was fascinating to talk to.

Details

Creative Director: Rockwell Harwood

Senior Photo Editor: Ashley Horne

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

Heidi: How did the idea of the hands come about?
Lacey: I worked closely with Jessica who made the sets with me. She had worked with body painting before and we loved the effect, so geared the shoot towards that.

How was the set actually built?
Just from paper and card. Quite simple but effective.

How much post was involved in this project?
The only shot where we used post was the red hands in the boots, everything else was in camera. We tried to get that for real, as I always try to do, but without cutting the boots it was impossible. So we gave in!

Your work seems to be very surreal, do you study paintings to get your inspiration?
I studied graphic design and typography, so always look to other areas than photography for my inspiration.

Decline

Editor: Mark Jordan

Senior Art Director: Paul Duarte

Digital Prepress Director: Wes Ducan

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

Heidi: Where were you to get the opening shot?

Devon: The article was featured in Decline Magazine from a recent trip to Chatel France. The opening shot was taken from the take off of this dirt step up to step down feature. It was really hard because there wasn’t much room to stand. I had about one square foot and I was right on the edge about 15 feet off the ground. I used the live view feature and held the camera above and behind me slightly. I did have to be a bit of a jerk to some other photogs that wanted to squeeze in with me, in the end I am glad I did it.

Is it hard to get access for the shots you want?

It can be extremely difficult. Sometimes I wish I had a Go-Go Gadget pack to float in the air and get to where ever I want. At big events like this one you are always battling it out with other photographers to get the angle and a clean view. I am always amused by course marshals yelling at me to be careful. After eight years of doing this professionally, I have yet to be hit by a rider. Key word, yet.

How do you edit for the drop sequence?

I used PS to morph that shot, a pretty simple technique. You open all the individual images in PS as layers, this stacks all the images onto one file. From there you use the Align feature, this evaluates all the images and lines them up perfectly for you. Once the files are all lined up, you simply mask away parts of each layer to leave you with the sequence. This is a super fast way to line up sequences.

How much of a rider to do have to be to do this kind of work?

That is a matter of opinion I would say. Myself, the one thing I do just as much as photograph is ride bikes. I recently shot for a week at the Breck Epic, a six day mountain bike race in Breckenridge Colorado. I pride myself in putting forth extra effort to get far out on course. I found myself putting in anywhere between 5-20 miles with a fully loaded camera bag every day. One of the days I hiked to 12,460 feet to get photos of riders topping out Wheeler Pass. The racers were always surprised to see me, especially twice a day in different locations.

What is the heaviest your gear pack has been while on your bike?

Way to heavy! I have never actually weight it, which I should do. There as been times that my pack has been well over 40lbs. One year shooting the Red Bull Rampage I was assisting Ian Hylands and was carrying my own camera bag and a second for him. Still trying to find a photo of myself with a pack on my back and front. I will regularly go on trail rides with a 25-30lbs pack. I am always blown away by how well I ride with no pack.